You are likely never short of ideas when naming a product or service in healthcare. You can spend weeks or months with your internal teams fine-tuning the name and figuring out the best path forward.
However, some brands fail to realize that your buyers, not your sellers, determine the best product or service name.
Although you may have arrived at an internal consensus, it is always essential to conduct market research to get feedback from your buying audience – whether that be doctors, physicians, or patients.
Name testing market research in healthcare can provide your team with the best option that would resonate most in the market after launch. The healthcare market research can either dwindle many choices into a preferred set of names or allow you to pinpoint the exact name or two that perform best.
Take for example, a recent project we conducted with a Massachusetts healthcare team. Below we outline their challenges to successfully naming their product and our approach to delivering a data-driven solution.
Recommended Reading: Concept Testing a New Healthcare Product with Doctors
The Challenge of Product Name Testing
Although there was slower adoption of telemedicine before COVID, the pandemic accelerated the service into hyperdrive for physicians and patients.
While we’ve approached a new normal with in-person doctor visits returning, many healthcare consumers continue to take advantage of the convenience of the service.
For instance, according to The Harris Poll, 35% of the public would consider replacing their primary care providers with qualified physicians on demand via telehealth.
As a result of this trend, a healthcare organization in Massachusetts partnered with our healthcare market research company on a project. The client wanted a better understanding of feedback surrounding a name choice for a new telemedicine product coming to market.
The healthcare facility had many meetings and work sessions to arrive at the best name and could limit the number of names to six for the market research study.
However, they were unaware of which of the six options was perceived the best by the market and potential users of the telemedicine service.
The client needed the results in less than 1 week, which Drive Research was able to make happen.
The Approach: Name Testing Survey
To discover the best name for the product, Drive Research leveraged an online survey using Facebook and panels.
The survey was advertised/sent to a random population of consumers in the healthcare organization’s market areas of Western MA, Central MA, and Northern CT. Furthermore, our market research team could target residents within a 15-20 mile radius of the 5 healthcare locations of the client.
The audience naturally skewed female and older age groups 45+ (typical for a healthcare survey).
The survey included 8 questions (5 core questions) and took approximately 1 to 2 minutes to complete.
The online survey took less than 1-week to field. A total of 3 $50 gift cards were raffled to survey respondents to entice participation.
The consultative study design offered by our online survey company followed a simplistic approach that included less than 10-questions.
Example name testing survey questions included:
- How likely would you be to use telemedicine services?
- Which of the following names do you most prefer?
- Which of the following names do you prefer least?
- What is your perception of the healthcare organization?
- Is the healthcare organization a leader in technology or innovation?
- What is your ZIP Code of residence?
A simple MaxDiff approach was suggested to create variance between the most and least preferred options. The statistical approach allows the research team to take the difference on most/least for a more insightful analysis to name testing in healthcare.
The research team also provided some context in the survey design to assist the client with understanding best practices and how to approach the questions:
- Early in the survey, the research team felt it was important to define telemedicine for respondents before Q1 to ensure all are on the same page since it may be a new concept to some. The definition for the survey was:
- Telemedicine is the remote delivery of health care services using telecommunications technology, including two-way audio/video. For example, using telemedicine, a healthcare provider can evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients using audio-visual communications via the internet.
- As a best practice, our research team aims to make all Likert scales shorter (5 points rather than 10-11 points) because it is more engaging and shows better on mobile, which helps with response rates.
Key Findings of the Healthcare Name Testing Study
The intent of the name testing project for the healthcare organization was to provide a quick, turnkey solution where results and insights could be obtained in less than 1-week. Here are the key takeaways:
- What is the most preferred name for the telemedicine service?
- Overall, there was no runaway winner for name preferences for telemedicine services. A fair percentage of the respondents in the market area preferred each of the 4 options presented. The most commonly chosen preferred names were Option A (33.2%) ahead of Option B (32.9%). These 2 options were twice as likely to be preferred over Option C or D.
- Max Differentiation (MaxDiff) analysis is a common technique used in market research to test preference. The method asks for the most and least preferred options. MaxDiff is calculated by the following formula = % Most Preferred Minus % Least Preferred). Scores range from +100 to -100, with 0 being the midpoint.
- The MaxDiff scores for each of the 4 names were as follows: (1) Option A at +8.4, (2) Option B at +4.3, (3) Option C, and (4) Option D.
- How likely are respondents to use telemedicine if available?
- When asked how likely respondents would use telemedicine services on a 1 to 5 scale, with “5” being very likely, the average likelihood was 3.4. Nearly half (47%) stated they would be likely to use it (rating of 4 or 5). In addition, those who were most likely to use telemedicine (4 or 5) were more likely to select Option A as their name of choice.
- When asked how likely respondents would use telemedicine services on a 1 to 5 scale, with “5” being very likely, the average likelihood was 3.4. Nearly half (47%) stated they would be likely to use it (rating of 4 or 5). In addition, those who were most likely to use telemedicine (4 or 5) were more likely to select Option A as their name of choice.
- What is the perception of the healthcare organization?
- The telemedicine perception questionnaire revealed the perception of the organization is positive. The average perception score of the healthcare organization on a 1 to 5 scale, with “5” being very positive, was 3.7. Over half (52%) stated their perception was positive (4) or very positive (5). The largest audience had a neutral perception (43%). Only 5% reported a negative perception of the organization.
- Similarly, the respondents mostly agreed with “The healthcare organization being a leader in technology and innovation.” Nearly half (48%) agreed, while another 46% were neutral. Only 6% disagreed with the statement.
Contact our Name Testing Survey Company
Drive Research has worked with many healthcare organizations, manufacturers, and providers as their full-service consultative qualitative and quantitative market research agency.
We work with brands to manage the entire research project end-to-end and guide your team with the setup/design and interpretation of the results to help you take the next steps.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
George Kuhn
George is the Owner & President of Drive Research. He has consulted for hundreds of regional, national, and global organizations over the past 15 years. He is a CX-certified VoC professional with a focus on innovation and new product management.
Learn more about George, here.
